Seems odd to me that we treat deciding about the demolition of a home built in the 1800’s the same as the demolition of a greenhouse building or a cinderblock garage. Tonight on the plan commission agenda is the demolition ordinance. Truth is, we’ve been bending the rules on the demolition ordinance for some time. Or . . . if you want to side with the staff, our ordinance is really weak. Several plan commissioners have been reading the ordinance differently than the staff has been interpreting it and we’ve been struggling with most demolitions that come before the plan commission.
In thinking about our demolition ordinance, I met with several people in the community who gave me some very interesting ideas about things that other cities do with their demolition ordinances and I hope that these can be part of our discussion . . . um . . . tonight (shit, is it that late already!) . . .
Anyways, here’s some ideas that I think merit discussion:
1. Have a “demolition delay” ordinance for any building over 50 years old.
2. Have a strong “demolition-by-neglect” ordinance.
3. No demolitions of buildings in a national and local historic districts that has an age that is greater than x years or within the same range as the contributing buildings in the historic district..
4. No combining lots for new development in a national or local historic district.
5. Require buildings that are proposed to be demolished that have historic value to be put up for sale for a period of time before a demolition can occur.
6. Strengthen the recycling requirements in the ordinance.
7. Require the replacement of affordable housing units that are demolished.
8. Have different demolition requirements for residential and commercial properties as well as based on the age of the buildings.
9. Require an inspection and report of all buildings being proposed for demolition.
10. Require disclosure information for homes in historic districts or homes over a certain age when the homes are sold.
11. Define what a partial demolition is.
12. Have standards for relocation of older homes.
13. Put a time limit on the demolition permit.
14. Have standards for demolition by fire.
I’m sure there are more things to talk about, but this is a start . . .
